Australia Weather News

11 months 7 days ago

Soil and dust blown in to SA's Mid North from areas to its north and west. - ABC

Damaging winds have kept the State Emergency Service busy as a vigorous cold front blasts the southern half of South Australia.

Gusts in excess of 100 kilometres per hour have felled trees, blown holes in rooftops, caused power outages and forced the cancellation of community events, including the popular ABC Gardeners Market at the Collinswood studios.

The SES said it had responded to 33 calls for help since midnight Saturday, including damage to homes and cars, chiefly about the hills and southern suburbs, and the Lower South East.

Dust storms were also whipped up in the Mid North, Eyre Peninsula and the Riverland, blanketing roads and neighbourhoods.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Brett Gage said the weather system arrived on Friday afternoon and would continue through the weekend.

"We've got a cold front which is approaching the southern coast, and that should move through Adelaide late [Saturday] morning," he said.

"We'll get mean winds of 40 to 60 kilometres per hour, with gusts up to 100 kilometres per hour, so outdoor activities aren't a good thing."

The top recorded gusts include 115kph at Neptune Island, 93kph at Cape Jaffa and 82kph at Adelaide Airport.

Thousands of properties were left without power during the storm, including at Aldgate, Bridgewater, Torrens Park, Royal Park and Port Willunga.

SA Power Networks said it had brought on extra staff to help repair poles and wires across the weekend.

Farmers were also hopeful of getting some much-needed rain, after SA's record temperatures and unusually dry start to the year.

"We'd be looking at totals of 10 to 20 millimetres [of rain] across the metropolitan area, and 30 to 60 millimetres up in the hills, by the time this thing is over," Mr Gage said.

"The ground is so dry, so it's great to get in some more rain, and the showers will continue on Sunday but they will ease off."

By 9:00am on Saturday, Verdun in the Adelaide Hills had recorded 35mm and Kent Town in the city had near 10mm.

ABC

Data Sources

Weather information based on data supplied by the Bureau of Meteorology and other sources